Spirit World Adventures
by Kanna37
Summary: A collection of one shots about Aang's afterlife with his forever girl. Romance, adventure, family, drama, and friendship abound as the two explore all the spirit world has to offer.
1. Penguin Sledding in the Spirit World

**Spirit World Adventures**

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

A/N: This is just my version of the spirit world – the whole concept in the cartoons, especially from what I've heard about LoK, leaves a lot of room for interpretation and maneuvering. So I interpreted and maneuvered, and here we are. Loosely related to my one-shot Panda Lilies and Proposals. Will be a collection of one-shots based on Kataang's life after death, so to speak. Consider this an afterlife version of my other one shot collection The Found Adventures.

~A~

"What was the first silly thing that Aang did after you found him in the iceberg?"

Katara sighed, a bare exhalation, and opened her eyes wearily to meet Korra's blue-green ones. She smiled just a little, too weak now to do more as death finally approached, but unable to stop herself from trying as she lost herself in a lifetime's worth of memories of her beloved husband and the father of her children.

"Not even a minute after he woke up he asked me to go penguin sledding with him," she answered after having gathered what little strength she had left to speak. She'd already bid her children and grandchildren goodbye, and now she was doing the same with her final waterbending pupil. "He had the biggest hopeful grin on his face when he blurted it out. I imagine my expression when I heard him looked pretty silly, come to think of it."

Korra blinked, and then a pang went through her as she remembered the first thing she'd said to her master when she'd been introduced to her as a small child. _Would you go penguin sledding with me? _"I'm so sorry," she began, wincing. "It must have hurt when I said that to you, too. I really don't know why I asked that... I hadn't been thinking about penguin sledding right then or anything."

The old woman's eyes smiled tiredly though warmly at her. "It did, I won't lie. But it gave me hope, too. I kind of always suspected that Aang sort of... prompted you to say that, actually. To make me realize that he was still with me, that he still loved me and that he was waiting for me."

The avatar thought about that for a few moments and then nodded, a small smile lighting her features. "I think you're right. And I'm glad that you were here to teach me and help me so much with all this stuff, though I kind of feel guilty saying that – like I've been keeping you both apart."

A hand unfurled and beckoned her own, and Korra gently held her sifu's fingers. "No. Don't feel guilty," she rasped, growing weaker. "Roku told Aang once that some friendships are so strong that they can last lifetimes. And he was right. I've been friends with the _avatar _in two lifetimes now. I don't regret that. And I've been proud to call you a friend too, Korra. But now it's time for me to rejoin my _husband_, and I'm glad to go."

Korra nodded, knowing exactly what she was speaking of. After the whole thing with Vaatu and Raava, she knew..._ Raava _was the avatar spirit, and _Korra_ was her mortal host - this time. One, yet not.

Her eyes began to glow as Katara's strength finally failed, though Korra could feel a difference this time. This wasn't the normal avatar state she went into when all Raava's past hosts flooded the new avatar with their power, but a private goodbye between the avatar spirit and someone who had been a friend and even a protector for so long.

"Goodbye, Katara, my friend, and thank you," Raava said, and the aged waterbender left the mortal realm behind with a soft, "You're welcome and goodbye," in return and a small but contented smile on her face as her eyes fell closed, her fingers falling away from the young woman's and going limp.

Korra's eyes faded back to their normal blue and she smiled through her tears at the look on her sifu's face. She stood up and put her fists together and bowed in a gesture of deep respect.

"Goodbye, Master Katara... my friend," she whispered. "Go in peace."

~A~

When Katara next opened her eyes – what felt like mere seconds later – she blinked, confused. "Did I dream all that?" she wondered aloud, rubbing at her eyes and then peering at what still lay before her with bewilderment.

Until she caught sight of her hands as she dropped them from her face, that was. And then she became even more startled. "Wait, wait, wait." She looked around and then dashed over to the pool of water that had just appeared out of nowhere and that shouldn't even be possible in the frozen realms of the south pole, and crouched down to look at her reflection. _Nope, not seeing things._ She looked like she was eighteen again... and on top of that she should be freezing right now considering that she was wearing the kind of light summer clothing she'd used to wear when in the Fire Nation.

But she wasn't.

It felt like a warm spring day in the earth kingdom, which should have meant that the ice she was seeing all around her was impossible.

But it wasn't.

That's when it finally occurred to her exactly where she was, and for a moment she sighed in relief – she hadn't lost her mind, she was just in the spirit world, though why it looked like the south pole and felt like a warm spring day she had no idea. She'd never imagined the spirit world like this whenever she'd thought about it, and from the things that Aang had told her of it, wherever he'd been hadn't been like this, either.

The thought brought sudden anxiety to the fore, and she stood up shakily and looked around with some desperation. "Aang?" she called softly, almost afraid to speak any louder and possibly disturb the spirits, though if he didn't appear soon she probably wouldn't care if she disturbed every spirit that called this place home – human or otherwise. "Aang?" she called again, a little louder this time.

She froze just moments later as the one voice she'd never forgotten even just a little caressed her ears for the first time in eighteen years, and gasped at the intensity of the emotions that flooded through her on hearing it, one hand going up to clench in her top just over her heart.

"Would you go penguin sledding with me?"

She shook her head then, a sense of deja vu three times over hitting her hard, and whirled around... to see her beloved monk looking just as young as she did and holding out his hand to her with the large, joyful, goofy grin he'd always had - and that she'd always adored - plastered across his face. He'd always been handsome to her, his features and soft gray eyes that could go from storm-cloud gray to silver in a heartbeat exotic in her eyes, even in the months before he died. He'd aged greatly in his last four years of life, though the only reason that had mattered to her had been because of what it meant, not how he looked. But seeing him again as he'd been when in the bloom of youth, in perfect physical shape and health, just took her breath away.

She reached out and put her other hand in his, her heart jumping as she felt his touch again after so long without. It wasn't until that very moment that she fully realized just how much of herself she'd locked away when he'd died... how much of herself she'd smothered in order to honor his last wishes for her to watch over the next avatar, to train her and help her just as she'd done for him.

"Aang," she choked breathlessly, "Aang." It seemed his name was all she could say as he yanked her into his arms and wrapped himself around her as they fell to the ground, apparently just as overwhelmed by his emotions on finally seeing her again as she was on seeing him. For endless amounts of time they just remained that way, locked together as they fed their need for each others touch without holding back. It was a sharing outside time or space, and as necessary to their souls as air was to the living.

Finally though, they resurfaced, and with a mischievous grin, Aang redressed and looked down at his drowsy and satiated – at least temporarily - wife. "Well, come on, Katara. We've got some sledding to do – and then we're going to go dancing like we did in the Fire Nation that time back during the war. So hurry up!" he exclaimed, excited for the first time since he'd been separated from his girl. The wait had been unbearably hard, but now that was all over and they had literally forever. His grin softened as he watched her redress. "My forever girl," he sighed, his eyes shining.

She blushed, and he chuckled. "Yes, well, I suppose that's literally true now, hm?"

At those words from her he beamed, just so ecstatic that he couldn't contain himself. He grabbed her and kissed her, and then pulled away and tugged her with him, heading for the group of penguins that had just appeared out of nowhere a short distance away – on the ice that they'd just been laying on that hadn't felt cold at all. "It always was true. I knew we'd have forever once we both reached this place. It's my definition of paradise... forever with you."

"Mine too," she whispered, reaching up to finger the betrothal necklace he'd made for her so many years ago, the panda lily carved into its surface just as bright as it had been the day he'd given it to her atop the volcano above Aunt Wu's village. His eyes lit up even brighter as she touched it and she smiled at him before looking around again. "So... anyway, why does the spirit world look like the south pole?"

Letting go her hand to single out two penguins, he shot her a grin over his shoulder. "It's the spirit world. It's whatever we want it to be."

"For everyone?"

At that he sighed and his smile faltered a little. "Not really. For most once-mortal spirits, you just sort of spend your eternity _dreaming_ about whatever you want to. But for the mortal spirits that were once the avatar, things are a little different. I guess because of the sacrifices that every avatar has to make in our time on the mortal plane, the spirits have granted us the ability to sort of... bend this realm to our wills once we pass on, I guess you could say. It's a fair trade – I'd rather have lost time with you on that side for the chance to spend forever with you here. And besides... even dead I still have responsibilities to the mortal world and the new avatar, you know. I can't spend my eternity just dreaming it away."

"Oh... then is that to say that I'm just dreaming this, since I'm only a mortal spirit?" she asked, her heart sinking at the thought.

"No, no," he hastened to assure her. "Once the avatar, remember? I can have pretty much whatever I want here, and what I want is you. So here you are, and I'm never letting you go again." He shook off the somber atmosphere that had fallen between them at her questions and smiled. "Now come on! We've got a lot of things to do!"

Katara sighed and then grinned, shrugging. Aang hadn't changed even a little bit – he was still a hyper, charismatic, fun-loving prankster, and she fell in love with him all over again as she climbed on her penguin and they started off, laughing the whole way. She was positive she was in for a crazy, fun-filled eternity...

And that was just fine with her.


	2. Dancing in the Dark

**Dancing in the Dark**

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters if Avatar: The Last Airbender.

~A~

Laughter echoed across an icy-seeming landscape as what looked like two young teenagers came into sight riding atop large penguins, wide grins and sparkling eyes betraying their enjoyment as the penguins slowly slid to a stop. They hopped upright and waddled off when the two teens climbed back to their own feet still laughing gaily.

"I'd forgotten what it was like to have fun," Katara sighed, blushing a little and looking over at Aang through her lashes. She reached up and grabbed a lock of hair and started running her hands down it in a gesture her husband recognized easily after fifty-four years of being together. She was feeling bashful, or possibly nervous.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking away as sadness echoed through him – the sadness of having been apart for so many years. "I kind of didn't have any fun either, you know? I just sort of moped around most of the time. I really didn't want to leave you, let alone for so long."

"I know, Aang. But that's over now," she said, letting her lock go and touching his shoulder comfortingly as she switched back to her twenty-year old form, "and we never have to face something like that again. I'm your forever girl, after all, and this is our forever!"

He smiled slowly at Katara as his eyes lit up. "You always know what to say," he chuckled, matching her change back to his own adult form.

"In that case, I love you. Now," she said, smiling in turn as she caught his gaze and the half-smile he was sending her way at her comeback and the hidden meaning in it, "I think someone promised me dancing. I don't think this is the right atmosphere for that kind of thing," she added suggestively, watching giddily as Aang's eyes darkened and hooded at her words and sensual tone.

"No... no, I guess it isn't," he replied, his smile softening. He reached out and took her hand. "How about this?"

Katara blinked, and the next thing she knew she was back in that Fire Nation cave, music playing from somewhere and winking candles stuck to any surface that could hold them. She looked around in awe – it looked almost exactly as she remembered it. "Wow... you have a really good memory, Aang."

Affection warmed his features as his smile softened even further. "This was always one of my very favorite memories. To tell you the truth," he looked a little sheepish for a moment, "I've recreated it before, just to sit here and have the right background for my memory to play out in. In some ways it made the waiting seem worse, but in others I think its the only thing that kept me sane."

He sighed as she moved into his arms and he wrapped them around her waist as she mirrored his actions around his neck. She met his gaze with nothing but naked truth in hers. "Then we were doing the same thing. Sometimes... I'd wish I could just go to sleep and fall into my memories and never wake up again. I guess I finally did," she smiled a little, a bit of lingering sadness in her expression, though Aang was glad to see that the more time they spent in each others company and the fact that they never had to fear losing each other again sank in it was dissipating.

"I'm just glad it was peaceful for you and not painful. I always worried that something would happen and you'd suffer. I... couldn't stand that thought, and I don't know how many mantras of protection and strength I chanted on your behalf." His grip on her tightened and he deliberately pushed aside her solitary living years to smile invitingly at his wife. "So... since there's this really nice, dimly-lit cave and beautiful music playing, would you like to dance?"

Katara giggled, willing to let him change the subject, despite the fact that tears had gathered in her eyes at the visual of Aang sitting alone in the spirit world and basically praying for her safety and happiness. "Well, since you asked so charmingly," she began flirtatiously, "I'd be honored, my lord Avatar."

She laughed aloud as her monk grinned and then spun her out and then back into his arms, only to whirl her around again and then segue into the steps they'd taken all those years ago. The only difference this time was that there weren't any spectators – not that Katara would have noticed, since she only had eyes for her husband anyway.

Just as that thought passed through her mind his grin turned sexy smile and he said, "Don't worry about them – it's just you and me right now," with the same heated expression on his face as he'd had back then. And it did the same things to her as it had the first time, firing her blood in her veins and leaving a light flush high on her cheekbones.

How long they danced Katara would never know, though she supposed that now that they were in the spirit world it didn't really matter, since time had no meaning for them anymore. But eventually the dancing moved into things that were a great deal less innocent but much more satisfying as the two once more tried to satiate their intense longing for each other. As they sank to the cave floor comfortable furs appeared between them and the rock and all the candles slowly began to dim out, leaving just one that did little more than to cast a tiny bit of light that diffused gently into the darkness around them.

And when it was over and Aang asked her if she'd enjoyed herself, she grinned and said, "I think I like this dancing in the dark a _lot_ better than the other kind of dancing we do in the light," mischievously, sending her husband into gales of happy laughter that she was sure could be heard all over the spirit world.

It was a sound she absolutely adored and always had, and she resolved then and there to make sure he had everything to laugh about now...

Whether it disturbed the other spirits or not.

They could probably all use a good bout of laughter, anyway.


	3. A New Path to Walk

**A New Path to Walk**

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

~A~

Katara contentedly nestled her head under her husband's chin, one arm thrown across his chest as they lay out on grass under some sky somewhere, staring up into the heavens and simply drawing strength and happiness from each other, as they hadn't been able to do in far too long.

She figured it was going to take a little while for both of them to become easy in each others presences again. It had been eighteen years since they'd seen each other, after all, and she was still in the stage where she was worrying that she'd wake and it would all have been a dream. She could tell from Aang's strong grip on her that he was feeling the same, and that was more than all right with her.

The skies above their heads were beautiful, clear and almost seeming as though one could reach out and touch the stars, they looked so close. It reminded her of so many times they'd slept under the heavens during the war, but better – because now they weren't dancing uncomfortably around each other and everyone else, they were married, bonded forever in the eyes of the spirits by love and devotion more thoroughly than by any purely human ceremony.

Katara could feel the bonds between them, the bonds that had held them together even through eighteen years of separation strengthening and tightening and becoming more powerful with each second they were together again. It was an intense, welcome sensation, and with each breath she could feel Aang more and more. She shivered with the aching love and devotion she was being bathed in and smiled, feeling his return shudder as he received the same emotions from her.

After a little while she could feel her husband's hidden tension begin to soften as her presence became a permanent part of him, her own going the same way as she felt him become indelibly entwined within her very being. That was when she became aware of a bit of a discordant feel coming from within him, and she knew that a frown was beginning to form on his face.

She sat up and looked down at him with loving eyes and a soft smile. "What is it, Aang?"

He didn't move, just his eyes flicking up to catch in hers, and he held her with that velvet, dove-gray gaze of his that had never failed to capture her from the moment she'd first seen him. After a few moments he lifted a hand up and brushed a lock of her chocolate hair back over her shoulder.

"How... how are the children?" he whispered.

A small, slightly sad smile met his inquiring gaze. "That's a question with several long, complicated answers. Easy one? They're all doing well. But you want more than that."

He nodded silently.

"Bumi is fine... you know how he is," she began wryly, her smile brightening just a bit. "Oh! You know that whole 'harmonic convergence' thing that Korra dealt with?" When Aang cocked a brow and nodded again, she grinned. "Well... he's an airbender now."

Eyes popping open wide, Aang stared at his wife's delighted grin and then he grinned, too. "Really? That's..." his voice trailed off and his smile faded into sadness, to Katara's concern. She could feel his pain as he looked away and sighed. "I wish... I want to say I wish he'd been born that way, but I don't want it to sound like I'd have loved him more if he had been. But... I would have loved to be the one to train him, and now I feel like I missed out. Is that terrible of me?"

"No, no, of course not!" she immediately tried to soothe. "I understand what you mean, sweetie. It's okay."

He nodded but didn't look up. "So... what about Kya?"

It was Katara's turn to look away, an expression of guilt on her face that struck her husband as so very out of place. "Kya... she didn't take it well when my energy began to fail. She tried so hard to heal me." She wrapped her arms around her knees sadly. "But... I... I fought her," she murmured, the guilty expression deepening. "She doesn't know that I did, but I was so tired, Aang, and I just couldn't be away from you anymore, so I didn't want to be healed. I was ready to go... but I feel so guilty for that, you know? What kind of mother puts herself before her children?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, my love," the airbender cooed, sitting up and cupping her face with both hands. "You couldn't change the fact that you would pass on sooner than our children – unless you were unlucky. No parent wants to outlive their child! You stayed with them as long as you could. But they're grown now and have their own lives and families, and that's what counts. And it's not like we still don't love them, and I would hope they'd know that... though spirits know I somehow failed with Bumi and Kya on that front. I know they thought I loved Tenzin more, but that couldn't be further from the truth."

Katara shook her head, pushing up to kiss her husband's lips gently. "I've talked to them about that over the years, and deep down they know you loved them. It just got all tangled up with responsibility and your avatar duties and even the future, and that's not your fault, Aang."

He glanced down and shrugged despondently, and Katara decided to continue on in her tale, because there had been something in his voice when he'd talked about parents that had her wondering, and she wanted to move on and find out what was really bothering him.

"Tenzin-"

Aang cut her off there. "I know. Didn't he tell you? When he was here during the harmonic convergence we saw each other for a few moments."

She blinked, surprised and a little upset that their son hadn't told her about that. "No... he didn't say anything," she said slowly, frowning. "That's... that kind of hurts, actually."

"I think I understand why," he said after a moment's thought. "He probably thought it would hurt worse for you to know than if it was never mentioned. Knowing that we'd seen each other when you and I weren't allowed such a mercy... well, can you see his point in avoiding telling you?"

"I suppose so," she sighed. "What... what did you say to each other?"

"He was upset, felt that he'd failed as the leader of the air nation, failed me. I had to remind him that he wasn't me, and he shouldn't be me. I guess he just needed to be reminded of who he was. Not Aang, but Tenzin."

"Oh," Katara said quietly. After a few moments she shook off the rather melancholy mood that had fallen between them and flicked a glance up at him through thick lashes. He was watching her with a sad expression buried in his eyes. It was the same way she'd caught him looking at her a very few times in their living years, and though she'd always wanted to ask, she'd kind of been afraid to. That expression could mean so many things, really...

"I didn't mean for this to degenerate into us going over all the mistakes we made as parents. I'm sorry."

Aang's apology had her grasping one of his hands and kissing it. "No... it's okay. We did the best we could, but no one's perfect, and we certainly weren't. In the end all we could do was love them and hope that it was enough to make them the people we hoped they'd be. And I think you'd be proud of them. But... there's something I want to ask you..." she trailed off hesitantly, watching him carefully.

"Uh, okay," he replied, looking at her strangely. "Go ahead."

"That expression on your face a moment ago," she began, still watching him closely, "I've seen you look at me like that a few times over the years and always wanted to ask what was wrong. Would you tell me why you looked so sad and wistful?"

Stiffening a little, Aang met Katara's gaze before she looked down and his heart dropped into his stomach. He hadn't realized she'd picked up on that... "It's not like that, Katara, so don't even think that. I can see it in your eyes... you thought I was regretting... regretting being with you, didn't you?" It was clear from the chagrin on his face that wasn't really a question, but she nodded anyway, her voice stuck somewhere in her throat. "Oh, spirits, that was never it! I've never for a moment regretted you! I thanked the spirits every day, some days more than once, that I'd somehow gotten lucky enough to win your heart. Never doubt that, okay?" he asked, tilting her face up with one finger. "I've always loved you and I always will."

"Okay," she mumbled, satisfied with what she was seeing in his eyes and feeling from him. "So then... what's been wrong all these years that you never told me about?"

He sighed, smoothing his hand across her cheek while his eyes went far away. "It's just... watching you with the children... I couldn't help but wonder, you know? About my... my parents. And I guess I just wish I could know what they thought about me. Did they love me? Were they proud of me, or would they have been ashamed that I failed to save them all and turned away from me?"

He looked so sad and lost at that moment that Katara tackled him over onto the ground and leaned over him, tears rimming her eyes and sliding down her cheeks as she finally understood the uncertainty and sadness she'd occasionally noticed in his eyes. Somewhere deep inside he was still that lost little boy who never knew what it was like to have parents and siblings – to have that kind of love bestowed upon him.

"Oh, Aang," she whispered, choked up from so much emotion that she could barely draw breath. She forced herself to speak anyway, because he needed her and she would always be there for him. "How could they not be proud of you? Look at everything you accomplished! If it weren't for you the whole world would be bowing to the Fire Nation, and happiness would have been a thing of the past. You spared the world such a fate when you were just _thirteen_. You were always the most amazing person... No other Avatar ever did such a thing at such a young age! You're the best Avatar the world has ever seen – I always believed that... and I still do."

After a moment he looked at her and smiled weakly. "I don't know about that, but thank you. Knowing that you always believed in me is what kept me going, you know. Because I couldn't bear to disappoint the one person that supported me as the avatar, but loved me as Aang."

She pressed her lips to his, kissing him softly just as he had that time on the submarine before the Day of Black Sun. Just a gentle press of lips and tenderness, loving him with all she had. "I'll tell you a secret," she breathed, her eyes twin pools of adoration and endless devotion, and Aang melted.

"What?" he asked softly, holding her intense stare with one of his own.

"You know how I would sometimes sit and watch the sun go down, and you thought I was talking to myself?" she blushed.

He nodded, intrigued now. He'd often wondered about that, but when he'd asked she'd always refused to tell him what she was doing.

"I was talking to your parents, thanking them for giving you to the world, but most especially to me," she admitted, her flush deepening though she didn't look away from him. "There was never anything more precious to me than you, and I felt so lucky, so blessed that you wanted to be with me – especially after all the stupid things I did back during the war."

His gaze sparked intensely at her admission, so much love welling up within him that he didn't know if he could contain it all. He reversed their positions so that she was laying beneath him and ran tender fingers down the side of her face. "I love you," he murmured fiercely, "I love you so _much_ that there are no words, Katara. I always have, since the moment I woke up from my years in that iceberg, and _nothing_ would have ever changed that. There aren't any words that exist that can even come _close_ to describing all that you mean to me."

She tilted her head and kissed his hand. "I know how you feel," she whispered, "because it's the same for me. That's why I know your parents had to have loved you, too. There's no way they couldn't have, Aang. You have so much love inside you, and your parents must have been just as loving and amazing, or they couldn't have made you."

He looked so vulnerable then, and Katara knew in that moment just how deeply this subject had always bothered and hurt him, even though he'd hidden it while they'd been alive. "Do you really think so?"

Nodding, she reached up and kissed his chin, closing her eyes and nuzzling him with the most sincere affection. "We never really talked all that much about your life before we met. I tried not to bring the past up too much because I knew how much talking about your people hurt you, and I'd do anything to keep all that pain away from you – even avoid a subject I was really kind of curious about." She met his gaze, her own sparking intensely. "What... what do you know about your parents, Aang?"

Sighing, he closed his eyes for a moment, digging deep into his memories. "Only what little Gyatso told me, and then the little bit that I saw when Roku took me on that spiritual trip to see his past with Firelord Sozin. As soon as it was known that I was the next avatar I was taken away from my parents and given to Gyatso to raise," he said, opening his eyes again to see his wife's tear-filled eyes gazing up at him. He brushed a hand against her cheek again, just enjoying the soft skin beneath his hand though the present subject was a painful one for him. "I guess I was about three or four when that happened, though I don't have any memories of the time before that, when I was still with them. I was never told anything much unless I asked, and even then what I was told was very vague. After a while I just stopped asking."

His wife frowned thoughtfully as she processed his words, wishing with all her heart that she could heal this hurt that was so deep that he'd carried it for all the days of his life – and afterlife. And then something occurred to her, and her eyes widened and flicked back up to meet his now curious gaze.

"Aang... you said that the mortal spirits that pass on kind of spend their afterlife dreaming about whatever they want, right?" When her husband nodded, looking ever more curious, she asked, "Can... can we interact with them in any way?" Her own heartbeat quickened as he nodded, because that would mean that she could see her family that had already all passed on again, but first... "How?"

"I guess it would be like we were kind of inserting ourselves into their dreams. But what has that got to do with my parents?" he asked, frowning uncertainly, not sure where she was going with her questions. "Its not like I can just do that, since I didn't know them I wouldn't be able to find them, you know?"

"But the monks _did_ know, didn't they?"

He paused, looking surprised. "Umm... I guess some of them had to have known who they were, though Gyatso never met them. But... he might know which of the monks did," he added after a moment spent thinking about it. Then his face fell. "But... that would mean I'd have to face him again, face the other monks... I don't know if I can, Katara," he shook his head, sadness shimmering in his eyes, more hesitant then she'd seen him in many years. "I... I don't think I could stand it if they hated me for running and failing to save them."

She shook her head, an affectionate, though exasperated sigh escaping her lips as she smiled at him. "Aang, for the monks to have hated you would go against their teachings, wouldn't it? Do you really think they would go against their very credo just to hate a child that they expected far too much from at that age? There was a _reason_ the avatars weren't told of their identity until they reached sixteen, and you weren't even given that courtesy, thanks to Sozin's actions. I think Gyatso at least would have been worried about you when he'd discovered you'd disappeared, not angry. And when the Fire Nation did attack his last thoughts were probably spent hoping that you'd escape what was happening and somehow survive. And you did."

"Really?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, really," she answered, her smile widening just a little.

He swallowed hard at that. "So-"

"You may not have known your parents but you know Gyatso, and he's the first link in the chain you need to seek out if you want to know the truth of your past, Aang." She met his eyes with stark love and all her desire to see him healed of the past permanently sparking in her electric gaze, and her lover gasped faintly as he really allowed himself to take in what she was telling him. "It's up to you. But just know that I'll be with you, and no matter what we find out about the past I'll always be with you, always love you. That won't ever change – it never has, and nothing that we could find out will have the power to change that. So... I guess the question you need to ask yourself is... are you ready to find out about that past?"

Gaze going far away, Aang rolled over and laid down on the grass next to his beloved, searching deep within himself as she waited patiently by his side as she always had for him to figure out what he needed to. It was quiet for some amount of time as he gathered his courage for what was to come, because Katara could feel that deep inside he'd finally tired of the wondering and the not knowing – not just about his parents, but about how the monks who'd raised him had viewed him after his disappearance. It was time... but she couldn't make him do what she knew he needed to, she could only lead him in the right direction and wait for him to decide on his own.

After a while he sighed and looked sideways at her and she met his gaze with a calm one of her own. "So... I guess we're going visiting," he said solemnly. Then a ghost of a smile washed across his face for a moment. "I always did wish that Gyatso could have met you. I wondered what he'd have thought of you a lot over the years. But if he's half the man I remember, then I know he'd have loved you – even if you were a meat-eater," he teased half-heartedly.

She rolled her eyes, trying to lighten the atmosphere a little more with her rebuttal. "Please, it's not like I stayed that way. By the time I'd known you for a few months I found my appetite for meat kind of disappearing, and we raised our children as vegetarians, too."

He chuckled, still a little sad, but not so down as he had been, his naturally cheerful temperament fighting back the hurt of the past. "You really do always know what to say, Katara. I don't know what I'd have done without you back then – and after the last years apart, I don't want to ever go through being without you again."

"You'd still be Aang, either way," she replied, determinedly holding on to the more lighthearted smile on her face. "And I know what you mean," she added in answer to his last statement.

Shaking his head with a small, wry smile of his own, he looked back up at the sky. "So... I guess we're playing detective now, huh?"

She giggled. "You hung out around Toph and her police force too long."

He shrugged. "Not like I had much of a choice, you know."

"I know."

It fell silent again after that, but Katara was content to wait until Aang was ready to take the first steps on this new adventure stretching out before them. And while she knew that there was going to be more pain for her beloved husband, in the end she was almost certain that the sadness he'd carried all his life would be eased...

And that was enough for her. When he struggled she would be his strength, she would support him and heal him when it all became too much - just like she'd always done, and would always do.

Because she loved him more than anything, and always would.

~A~

A/N: I'm sorry I kind of disappeared there for a while – we got hit hard this month, every time I turned around something else was going wrong, and then this last Friday I had yet another nasty fall and to be honest I don't remember this weekend at all, which is pretty disconcerting, truth to tell. The last thing I remember is the fall mid-day Friday and then... nothing until about midnight last night.

Anyway, I figured I'd work on Spirit World Adventures first as I haven't posted on that one in a longer time. I hope everyone can forgive me not answering any reviews in light of the events of the last two weeks.

Amber


	4. The First Steps

**The First Steps**

~A~

Aang inhaled deeply, held the breath for a moment as he gathered every bit of courage he had in him, and then slowly let it out, glancing sideways at his wife as he did so. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but she was watching him steadily, love and support clear in her gaze.

_I could never thank the spirits enough for giving her to me, _he thought as she held his eyes. _If it weren't for her, the world would be bowing to the Fire Nation, because she's the one that really saved it all, not me. Without her, ten thousand years of history, of Avatars and everything they'd worked for would have ended. I'm nothing without her. _

"And I'm nothing without you, Aang. It goes both ways, never forget that."

He sighed, his eyes softening even further on her as she read his mind. She'd always been good at knowing what he was thinking – actually, they'd both been good at reading each other. They were two halves of one whole, and with that thought he smiled a little at her.

"How could I? No matter how down I got you always reminded me." He reached out and grasped her hand, threading their fingers together as she smiled at him in return. He couldn't help his smile widening on her at the sight.

"And I'll keep doing it as long as you need me to. Now," she continued after a long moment of meeting his eyes, "have you decided whether you're ready to face your people yet, or not? To find Gyatso, the other monks, and your parents?"

"As long as you're with me, I'm ready for anything, Katara," he said, his nerves steadying with the knowledge that she would always be with him from now on, and that as long as she was, he had nothing to fear. Because the truth was that as long as she loved him, he could survive the rest of the world turning their backs on him. He really, truly only needed her, when it came right down to it. Anyone else was just a bonus. _From the moment my eyes opened in her world and met hers, I glimpsed eternity. And now we're facing it down together, and it's beautiful – whether my people accept me or not. Whether my parents accept me or not._

With that realization his determination firmed and he stood, pulling her up with him as she smiled at him with pride, just like she always had.

"You're so brave, Aang," she said fiercely, her eyes intent on him as she joined him on his feet. "You always were. Even in the very beginning, when you first woke up from the iceberg. You gave yourself up to Zuko to save me and my remaining people. I've never forgotten that, you know. And if you could face being taken to the Fire Nation and probably being murdered by Ozai at just twelve, I know you can face Gyatso and the rest of your people now, as an adult."

His hand tightened on hers as he shot her a half-smile, just so grateful for her. "I can handle everything the world or spirit world could hold with you by my side, Katara. I'm ready," he finished, his voice steady.

Katara nodded but didn't say anything, waiting for him to track his former guardian's spiritual energy.

Mouth tightening a little, Aang closed his eyes and slowly began threading his own energy into the space around him, unraveling the signatures of all the entities in the spirit world looking for Gyatso's familiar presence. Time passed but Katara didn't make a sound as she waited, not wanting to distract her husband from his search.

Suddenly his eyes popped open, a vulnerable, though hopeful expression crossing his face. "There!" he choked, his attention locked on the faint but irrepressible presence of the man he'd seen as a father – the man who'd cared for him and done everything he could to protect him from the unfair truth of who and what he was for as long as he could.

Katara squeezed his fingers with her own and smiled encouragingly. "I'm ready when you are."

Aang met her steady gaze for a moment and then nodded. "You should close your eyes," he said softly. "You might find this disorienting."

"Okay," she exhaled, and did as instructed.

With a small half-smile at yet more evidence of her complete trust in him, he turned his attention to manipulating the energies of the spirit world...

… and that world faded for bare fractions of a second before exploding in a hectic kaleidoscope of color that whirled and blurred and blended together in a rush, before once more fading to black. Then, in the depths of that blackness, a single point of light grew from a tiny dot to the brilliance of the summer sun. With a blink Aang's breathing hitched and the clearest of blue skies opened up around them, leaving him staring with completely shocked eyes at the place he'd grown up - the Southern Air Temple. It was exactly as it had been in his childhood, before the Fire Nation had attacked and left it a desolate wasteland, a slowly disintegrating monument to an almost dead race.

His breath froze in his chest. He supposed he should have realized that seeing something like this was a possibility. After all, Gyatso had also been raised at that temple, so he'd spent his entire life there and died there, as well. But even though it _should_ have occurred to him it hadn't, and so seeing it left him feeling like he'd been blindsided.

He couldn't even _breathe_.

Being transported into Gyatso's dreamworld they were bound to his interpretation of it, and Aang found that he and Katara were flying in on his glider, soaring through a sky filled with other gliders and flying bison and lemurs. The calls of the animals and echoes of the people's happy cries gave many voices to the dreamworld, giving it a rich tapestry of sound to rival the brilliant, hard clarity of everything around him.

It was beautiful... and just as he remembered. He felt his heart break at the evidence of all he'd lost so very long ago. It still hurt so much sometimes, and certainly it did now, when he was once again confronted by the reality that had ended in a rain of fire and blood-spattered brimstone, and left nothing but rock and ash and bone behind.

"It's so beautiful," Katara's voice echoed his first thought with awe. "Is... is this really what it was like?" she asked, meeting the gaze he turned on her with wide, sparkling eyes filled with wonderment.

"Yes," he managed to choke out, turning his gaze back to the scene before him as he tilted the glider into the wind and began to angle towards the huge temple rising from the mountain before them and shimmering like some enormous mirage in the perfectly clear air. "Yes," he breathed. "Oh, spirits, Katara... I'm home...I'm _home_..." his voice faded out on a stark gasp, one so filled with emotion that it froze his throat closed behind it and gave his gray eyes a glossy sheen of tears that made them almost glow.

"_Aang_," Katara said, her own voice tight with emotion as she witnessed his pain and his love for his beloved childhood home and his lost people. "Oh, Aang."

_I understand so much more now, _she thought, her eyes darting everywhere trying to capture as much of it as she could so that once this was over, she would _remember_. She would be the only one besides Aang that would know what that missing part of the world had looked like. What it should _still _have looked like. _One man's ambition and greed forever cost the entire world more than could ever be reclaimed again._

She wanted to cry, to sob her heart out... for its loss, and for the sheer agony that was now bleeding off her husband's aura – an agony that no one could ever heal. It just wasn't possible to fill in such a gaping hole with anything less than what had been lost in the first place. The best she could hope for was to ease his pain, and that made a part of her heart split open and start to bleed. Seeing someone you loved so completely hurting so much and being unable to heal them was actually worse than bearing the pain yourself – she wanted to protect him from it, and she couldn't.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for someone who had been a healer all her living years.

As Aang came in for a landing Katara braced herself and then allowed herself to slide from her spot into her husband's arms as he collapsed his glider in a motion that she hadn't felt him make in eighteen years, and yet was as familiar as if they'd never been apart at all. It was a smooth transfer, one the airbender had completed so many times that he didn't even look down at her as she regained her feet and stood up, his gaze pinned on the Temple. But, Katara realized as she glanced up at him through her lashes, it wasn't really the _Temple_ he was looking at – rather, it was the people that gave it life that had captured his attention.

Both stood there simply staring, Katara uncertain of what to do or say, and Aang barely aware of anything besides this dream that he'd interrupted. So it was that both were quite startled when a seemingly middle-aged man in monk's garb and with the blue arrow tattoos of an airbending master standing out against his olive skin appeared next to them and bowed.

"Please, follow me," he murmured. "Monk Gyatso is awaiting you, Avatar Aang."

Shock stilled any immediate motion to follow that Aang and Katara might have made as both jerked their gazes up to stare at him in stunned surprise. Standing awkwardly after straightening from his aborted return bow, the former avatar cleared his throat after a quick glance at his bewildered wife. She blinked at him, and he looked back at the patiently waiting monk as he tried to drag order out of his chaotic thoughts.

The other man simply smiled. "Come, Avatar. Monk Gyatso has been expecting you and will endeavor to answer the many questions I'm sure you and your wife have."

_Expecting me? _"Uh, okay," he said. Reaching down without even thinking about it, he grasped his wife's hand and followed the man in front of him as he began leading them along a path both Aang and Katara recognized. This was the way to what had once been Gyatso's rooms. It was a path he'd taken often as a child... and even sometimes as an adult. When the sadness would once again begin to overwhelm him and they'd been at the Temple, he'd always found himself seeking comfort in his former mentor's rooms.

But comfort wasn't what was on his mind now. No... now his mind was beginning to race with all those questions the monk in front of him had mentioned.

Nevertheless, despite his now racing thoughts Aang couldn't help looking into the faces of the people around them. Did they see he and Katara? Were they aware, or were they only faded shadows of the memories of a man that had died almost two hundred years before? That's what they should have been... but then, so should the man leading them, and yet he clearly wasn't exactly. And despite that knowledge, the airbender continued looking at anyone who got close, wondering if they were dreams of real people. Wondered if he would recognize any of their faces.

He wasn't sure whether the prospect excited or frightened him. A group of laughing boys probably around ten or so ran by without even glancing in their direction, and Aang was almost flattened by the memories their passing wrenched from his psyche.

So completely absorbed by the pathos his memories and the questions he had were causing, the Avatar faltered and then came to a halt in front of Gyatso's door just as the monk opened it to usher them inside. Ignoring the invitation for a moment Aang looked down at his wife, desperately needing the reassurance that only she could give him – and the strength.

She was looking right back at him, completely focused on his need despite her fascination with her surroundings and her desire to take it all in. With just her eyes she shored up his soul and gave him willingly of her strength, enabling him to take that first step into the room where the man who'd raised him was waiting to see him once again.

It seemed the shocks were just beginning, because the very first thing he saw when he entered was himself.

It was him... but him as he'd been as a child, sitting across a gameboard from the only other occupant of the room, and though the older man was moving the child appeared frozen for several seconds before disappearing into thin air as though he'd never been there at all. Aang sank to his knees, his legs simply unable to hold him up any longer as his gaze finally landed on the enigmatic smile and kind eyes of a man he'd never thought he'd ever see again... Monk Gyatso.

The smile widened a little after several silent moments, and then it softened. "Hello, Aang," he said, and the Avatar's eyes filled with tears. His questions were forgotten for the moment in the rush of painful emotion that temporarily closed his throat up at once more hearing that voice that he'd never even remotely forgotten. _After all this time, I still remember..._ He tried to clear the obstruction and speak again, but failed – until he felt his wife's hand tighten around his, and like it always had, her presence gave him the strength to do what he couldn't remotely have done if she weren't there with him.

"Gyatso," he whispered, absentmindedly squeezing her fingers as she sat quietly down just behind him. "How...?"

The monk chuckled at that. "Which 'how' do you mean?"

"All of them," Aang replied instantly, hesitantly smiling when Gyatso threw his head back and laughed.

"I see that some things never change," he replied as his laughter finally calmed. "You always wanted to know everything _right now_."

The Avatar blushed sheepishly. "I guess," he grinned, though the expression faded quickly as he searched his former mentor's eyes. "Tell me, please?"

"First, should you not introduce me to the beautiful young lady sitting behind you?"

Aang blinked, then blushed again as he realized that he hadn't already introduced his beloved – he usually did that first, just so proud that he had such an amazing woman as a wife. Proud that someone so amazing had even wanted to be with someone like him in the first place. He scratched the back of his neck in a move that had Gyatso laughing again at its familiarity.

"Um, yeah," he started, his blush deepening at the former waterbender's faint, teasing chuckle. "Monk Gyatso," he suddenly said very formally, quieting her amusement, "this is my wife, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe." He glanced back at her, his cheeks still a little pink but a more serious, though tender, look on his face now. "Katara, this is the man who raised me, Monk Gyatso of the Air Nation."

With a last squeeze of her fingers around his Katara released his hand, then bowed at the waist with great respect. "Monk Gyatso of the Air Nation, it is an honor to meet you." She straightened then, and met the older man's eyes. "And it is an even greater honor to meet the man who raised my husband. I knew that anyone who had such an influence over Aang had to have been amazing, to have raised him so well."

The older man's smile softened and changed, now carrying a fond edge that Katara did not miss as he glanced at her husband, then bowed to her in return. "And Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, it is an honor to meet the wife of my former charge. For Aang to love you as much as it is very obvious that he does means that you are an extraordinary woman, one that I would have been honored to know in life."

Tears rimmed Aang's eyes as two of the most important people in the entire world to him met and gave such honor to each other – and for his sake. He knew Katara loved him, she'd more than proven that over the course of their lives and even now in death, but he hadn't dared hope that Gyatso would remember him with so much affection.

He didn't understand it. _How could he...?_

His thoughts translated into words almost without him even realizing it. "How could you just... forgive me like that?" he burst out, surprising his two companions – but both quickly realized that they shouldn't have been.

Gyatso tilted his head, though his expression didn't change much, betraying only a mild curiosity. "Forgive you for what?"

Aang blinked at him, his face going incredulous. "What do you mean for what?" he gasped, his eyes wide as he gestured a little wildly around them. "For being the reason that the airbenders – _our people!_ \- are gone! It's my fault!"

"You take much upon yourself, Aang. Very rarely is a situation brought about by the actions of one single person, and you should know this. And in this particular case, you are not at fault at all. The responsibility for the demise of the airbenders lies at the feet of Sozin, and also to Roku, who allowed his feelings of past friendship to outweigh his duty to the world."

Katara felt a sense of suffocating pressure as she realized just where this might be going, for hadn't Aang once made the same decision? Some had been upset with him, thinking he _had_ put his friendship with Zuko over his duty to the world. Heck, Roku had wanted him to just kill Zuko, his own grandson, for the sake of the rest of the world. But Aang had refused. Now that it was being brought up though, would Aang see the difference in what he'd chosen over what Roku had? There _was_ a difference...

It seemed that the Avatar had made the basic connection, at least. "You mean, like the time I refused to kill Zuko just because Roku said it was for the best?" he challenged, though his gaze dropped with shame for his self-perceived wrongs.

A dark eyebrow rose, but in no other way did Gyatso's facial expression change. "Did I say so?"

"You didn't have to," Aang replied a little sullenly. "The qualifier was there."

"Then if you believe that is so, why _did_ you choose to stay your hand and allow Zuko to live?"

"Because it was different!" the younger monk burst out. "Zuko truly believed he was doing what was good and right, to protect his people. And he _was_ right! Sozin just wanted to rule the world, and he didn't care if he had to destroy an entire people to get what he wanted. Zuko would never have done that! _Roku's_ fault was in turning a blind eye to Sozin's motivations and doing nothing to stop his ambitions. I already knew what Zuko's motivations were, and they were good!"

"So it was knowledge that made the difference between your actions versus Roku's," Gyatso concluded. "Is that what you are saying?"

Aang stopped, frowning as he suddenly became thoughtful. "Partly. But it was really some things that Katara said that cinched it for me, that _proved_ to me that Zuko was right." He shook his head, his eyes clearing. "As the Avatar, I was there to defend and protect the_ people_, not the borders between nations. I chose between _love_ and _duty _that day – to act out of _love_ for the people, rather than just my supposed duty... and I've never regretted it. I never will. Zuko was right for the same reason – because what he did was for love and the protection of his people, not just some duty or because he was greedy with too much ambition for any man."

"You are right. And that is why _Sozin_ is the one responsible for what happened. It was _his_ greed and ambition that caused our deaths, not anything that you did or did not do." He paused, then said, "As well, things happened in the only way they could to salvage any kind of free future, with you running away as you did. There was nothing you could have done to stop Sozin at that time, Aang. You would simply have died, and then the avatar cycle would have been doomed. My last thoughts were of you, hoping you had escaped and that you would somehow find your way as the Avatar – _and_ as Aang. And with a little help, you did," he finished, smiling wide enough to crinkle his eyes as he looked from Aang to Katara.

"It's really that simple?" Aang asked with disbelief – and hope. Could it really be so? Had he _really_ spent his life carrying the guilt for a sin that had never been his?

"It's really that simple," Gyatso answered, and Katara smiled behind her husband's back.

_I like him..._

TBC...

~A~

A/N: If any are still reading this, I know this particular chapter is seriously overdue, but I lost motivation for a long time on all my writing. This one was even harder to get back into, simply because I just couldn't figure out how to get where I was trying to get with it. That finally cleared up, and I'll hopefully be able to have the next part up soon.


	5. The First Steps Part II

~A~

**The First Steps Part II**

~A~

"Now that's out of the way," Gyatso continued, smiling at the woman behind Aang in return of her own smile, "why was it that you sought me out?"

Aang, who was still trying to take in what his mentor had said to him, barely heard his question. It took a nudge from his wife, and then another slightly stronger one, to get his attention. And then he flushed again, feeling as foolish as a little kid who'd misbehaved in his teacher's presence.

"Oh, um, what was that?" he fumbled, looking over his shoulder at Katara with confusion when both she and Gyatso started laughing. "What? What's so funny?"

"You are, Aang," Katara giggled. "You didn't even hear what he asked you, did you?"

His flush deepened, red crawling up his cheeks ever higher and down his throat ever lower. Now he _really_ felt like a fool. Wasn't there a law against that somewhere? Against making the Avatar feel stupid? If there wasn't there should be, he decided with a slight scowl.

"No," he finally admitted, though his tone was a tad bit annoyed.

"Was his head always in the clouds like this?" Katara asked Gyatso, grinning. "Pun entirely intended."

"Alright, alright already," the younger monk interrupted, now completely disgruntled. "I get it. Not paying attention when someone is speaking to you is bad manners," he parroted sarcastically, his memories of the things he and Katara had taught their children poking hard at his gut over that little bit of hypocrisy.

"That's right, Aang," she said soberly, though her husband could clearly hear her laughter in her voice. "So perhaps you should put aside whatever is distracting you and listen to him, hm?"

The airbender pointedly refused to answer his wife, simply looking at Gyatso and waiting for him to speak. That fact amused both his companions.

"I see that you chose a strong-willed wife. She seems to have no problem keeping you in line," he chuckled once more. "I had asked you why you sought me out."

That immediately brought back Aang's earlier somberness, wiping the lingering amusement from both Gyatso and Katara instantly.

The former waterbender leaned forward and breathed into her husband's ear, "I'm here, Aang." She didn't have to say anything more – he understood her meaning loud and clear.

"I know," he whispered back without taking his gaze off of the older man. He paused, squeezing the hand he still held, then continued. "I need to know which one of the monks knew who my parents were. I need... to find them."

Gyatso sat back, not really surprised by his former charge's request. He had always known that Aang had harbored the desire to meet his birth parents, and had expected that sooner or later he would demand to know rather than just ask, and that he wouldn't be put off by vague platitudes and weak semantics. Sozin's actions had silenced the possibility of that while they were alive, but now that they were dead it no longer mattered why it hadn't happened, just that it hadn't.

"I had expected you to demand answers long ago, and I've no doubt you would have if things had been different and Sozin had not interfered with so much." He smiled a little sadly. "But better late than never, is it not so?" His expression faded into a thoughtful frown, then. "Hm. Do you remember Monk Isao? You should start with him."

_Isao... Isao... now why does that name sound so familiar? Wait... oh, no. Are you kidding me? _Aang groaned but nodded. "Yeah," he said, sounding resigned, "I remember Monk Isao. He didn't like me much, and after everything that happened he probably completely hates me now."

That caused the older monk to chuckle yet again. "Isao did not dislike _you,_ Aang, he disliked everyone, so don't feel alone."

"So... I have to talk to him. Are you sure? Isn't there anyone else you can think of?" he asked, his eyes wide and pleading. "Even if he remembers he won't tell me. There's gotta be someone else I can talk to!"

"Not that I am aware of," Gyatso shook his head, though he had a fond smile for the younger man as he did. "He won't withhold this information from you... at least for very long," he finished, though he didn't sound too sure of that last bit.

Katara, still sitting behind her husband and listening quietly, couldn't help but wonder about this guy. What kind of monk would be so petty? She clenched her empty hand into a fist and narrowed her eyes. Well... he could be petty all he wanted but he better not play with her, because she'd teach him a thing or two if he tried to keep from telling Aang what he wanted to know.

He had every right to seek out the truth of his origins.

It wasn't like it would make any difference to anything now if he knew – Aang had risen to his destiny and given his all in pursuit of it. He'd succeeded, and the world had gained the first peace it had known in one hundred years at the hands of a thirteen-year old boy. A thirteen-year old boy that had lost everything but Appa in order to do it.

So in the end there was absolutely no reason to withhold this information from him – the only excuse the monk would be able to give if he tried would be that he had a simple, petty spirit. And she was very good at dealing with jerks like that.

Gyatso watched Katara's face and laughed inwardly at the militant look that had flared to life in her eyes. He could clearly see that she adored her husband. She was more than willing to fight to the end of eternity for him, there was no mistaking the fierce protectiveness she felt for him as anything less than absolute devotion. He was thankful that the young, innocent boy he'd tried so hard to protect had found someone else to do so when their fates had been sundered, for he'd needed it. And even now he still needed that place to shelter, needed another soul like to his but yet different to anchor his airbender spirit. Avatar he might have been, master of all four elements, but at his core Aang was and always would be an airbender. Katara was exactly what he'd needed – what he _still_ needed.

_I couldn't have asked for a better person to take my place as guide and protector. _

His brows shot up when she addressed her husband with that militant look growing stronger. His inward laughter grew. Isao just might be in for it, and all Gyatso could do was wish he could witness him getting it. The curmudgeonly old monk had been a frequent target of his pranks – like the time he and Aang had made his special fruit pies... and then thrown them at the older man.

"Don't worry, Aang," Katara said. "Monk Isao will tell you what you need to know, and he'll do it courteously, too – or _else_," she added threateningly with a scowl that would have scared even Avatar Kyoshi into compliance.

He couldn't help it then. Gyatso burst into gales of laughter, completely charmed at the woman's show of spirit on her husband's behalf. He could clearly see that much of Aang's strength stemmed from her.

"I _like_ you," he gasped out finally as his laughter once again slowed. "I couldn't have picked a better helpmate for my ward than you."

Katara blushed at his complimentary words and her temper softened as she became a little sheepish at her display. She bowed again to the elderly monk in thanks.

"I'm sorry," she apologized ruefully, shaking her head. "I just can't help it. I think it's ingrained in me so deeply to protect him that it'll never change. Even here... well, I can't use my waterbending here, but that doesn't mean I'm helpless."

"I believe you," Gyatso chuckled.

Aang had scooted around so that he could see both his mentor and his wife, and her words and actions just made him want to melt, despite the fact that he felt just as strongly that it was _his_ place to be protecting _her_.

"You protect each other," the elderly monk said with a wink, seeming to know where Aang's thoughts had wandered. "And that is as it should be. Now, was there anything else you needed of me?"

At that, the former Avatar grinned. "A game of shogi! I still haven't beaten you, and now I'm ready. And don't think you can cheat this time, because I won't fall for any of your old tricks again."

Gyatso returned the grin, and without so much as a twitch of an eye there appeared a low table between them with a game board already set up and ready to go. "Ahh, but I have _new_ tricks to entertain with that you have never seen, my boy," he said slyly, rubbing his hands together and grinning even more gleefully as Aang chuckled.

Katara blinked, a little confused at the sudden change in atmosphere, but then she shrugged and smiled to herself. Isao could wait, after all, and Aang needed this – this time was about reconnecting and healing the scars on his soul, not really the game. Gyatso had been one of those scars, one of the biggest, actually, but now he was no longer. And Aang was better for that, some of his pain being washed away by his father-figure's acceptance, freeing just that little bit more of his soul to fly.

They had all the time in the world, and now she was even more positive that this journey they were on would end up healing those parts of her husband that she'd never been able to reach, though she'd tried so hard to. And so she would deal with whatever came their way as calmly as she had always managed to when they'd still been living beings in charge of an entire world.

If it took a harsher toll on her than she already expected it would, well, that could be dealt with, too. She'd found a way to handle the stress when she was alive, and death hadn't changed a thing – she could and would deal with it here in the spirit world just the same.

She could deal with anything if it was for Aang.

~A~

A/N: Wow... I got another chapter out within days, not weeks or months. I'm so proud of myself! As always, to anyone who reads my stuff, a great big THANK YOU! And for your reviews, I offer what pitiful little I can in return – eternal gratitude. You all will never know how your words have helped me through a difficult time. I hated having no ideas, no motivation. I felt lost, but I'm slowly recovering my ground. So once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the reads and the reviews.

Amber


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